[applause] [applause] >> good evening welcome to the schomburg center to have rachel and all of you here come on this summer evening is getting hot out there. brace yourself. we have a special treat to as you have read about the new book "american tapestry" we learn a lot about that only the first lady but also the country. i am looking for to hearing more about the process of writing the book that ratio would like to share that animates something that we do not already know. to begin what the audience probably does not know, you had support, a community, a behind-the-scenes players starting with a genealogy genealogy, institutions, a fellowship. to talk about the genealogy of the book itself and how we arrived at the story. >> guest: i wrote the story october 2009 about the first lady's family with a colleague of mine. and that became the genesis of the book. i am a journalist. this is a new experience for me. >> host: congratulations. [applause] >> guest: so i had a notion i will embark on a deep dive with the first lady family in american history. i knew i did not have that much time.